05/07/2022
Foods are grouped together because they provide similar amounts of key nutrients. For example, key nutrients of the milk, yoghurt, cheese and alternatives group include calcium and protein. These food groups make up the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating.
Additional tips to help you manage your cholesterol include:
• Use spreads and margarines made from canola, sunflower or olive oil, and dairy blends that have earned the Heart Foundation tick, instead of butter.
• Use a variety of oils for cooking – some good choices include canola, sunflower, soybean, olive, sesame and peanut oils.
• Use salad dressings and mayonnaise made from oils such as canola, sunflower, soybean, olive, sesame and peanut oils.
• Choose reduced-fat, low-fat or no-fat milk, yoghurt, custard and desserts, or calcium-added non-dairy food and drinks. Limit ice cream to no more than three times a week.
• Have two to three portions (150 grams each) of oily fish every week. The fish may be fresh, frozen or canned.
• Select lean meat (meat trimmed of fat, and poultry without skin).
• Limit processed meats including sausages, and deli meats, such as salami.
• Snack on plain, unsalted nuts and fresh fruit (eat two serves of fruit every day).
• Incorporate peas (such as split peas), beans (such as haricot beans, kidney beans, baked beans, three-bean mix) or lentils into at least two meals a week.
• Eat plenty of vegetables (aim for five ½ cup serves of vegetables every day).
• Choose wholegrain breads, cereal, pasta, rice and noodles.
• Limit takeaway foods, such as pastries, pies, pizza, hot chips, fried fish, hamburgers and creamy pasta dishes, to once a week.
• Limit salty, fatty and sugary snack foods, such as crisps, cakes, pastries, biscuits, lollies and chocolate, to once a week.
• Limit foods such as liver, kidneys and pâté.
• Include two or three serves of plant-sterol-enriched foods every day (for example, plant-sterol-enriched margarine, yoghurt, milk and bread).
• Include up to six eggs every week.
If you are trying to lower your blood cholesterol, you should also aim to eat foods that are high in dietary fibre, particularly soluble fibre, because they can reduce the amount of LDL cholesterol in your blood. These foods include fruits, legumes (chickpeas, lentils, soybeans, four-bean mix and baked beans) and cereals (oats and barley)
